Today was all about taking the fence down. Kelly asked that I start close to the road instead of the back of the property. Yep, that's where the fence is most stable, thus more difficult to pull down. The chainsaw roared to life and I began to cut away. The posts are 8' apart and there are four horizontal boards attached to each post. Those horizontal boards have to be cut near the post and stacked.
I worked for twenty minutes and took a break. I worked for 18 minutes and took a break. I worked for 15 minutes and took a break. Yep, there's a pattern here. It was hot. It was muggy. I was covered in creosoted wood chips. My back hurt. My shoulders hurt. My legs and feet hurt. I plugged away and by late afternoon I had removed about 60 yards of lumber. Some of the posts fell over, which was no surprise at all. The amount of ants on the wood amazed me. The holes throughout the slats and the posts were bigger and more numerous than I had realized. The fence was literally disintegrating and returning to earth -- which by the way is no beautiful process. What remained of the fence was an eyesore.
In the late afternoon I stacked all the fence boards flat on the trailer in nice, neat rows so they would lay flat and be easier to strap down. Again, hot, back-hurting work, but that trailer was full.
As the evening came, Kelly Henderson came to help me pull the posts. One person can do it, but it's so much easier with two. We used my Ford 8N lifting arms to remove the posts. I don't use the tractor often, but it's as handy as a pocket on a shirt.
After yanking all the posts for the amount of fence I had pulled down, we sat to visit a moment. Kelly and his wife Joy grew up with Kelly Johns. They have known each other forever. Joy and Kelly were youth sponsors for me when I was Associate Minister at Arlington Christian Church. They're really good people. I am always grateful for their help.
Speaking of Grateful, I finished reading "Grateful" by Diana Butler Bass today. Almost all the way through "Seven Brief Lessons in Physics." More about that book tomorrow.
Peace and Love,
Jerry
No comments:
Post a Comment